Teana's Travels Book 25: Red Like Roses
by D.K.N
Summary: Chasing Malia, Teana and Group Madoka find the world of Remnant. There, they enlist the aid of Beacon Academy in hunting the murderer down, and stopping Xehanort from gaining control of the Grimm. Rated M for Violence & Language
1. Beacon

Sorry about the wait for the start of this fic; during my working on it, I discovered _Air Crash Investigations_ and _Seconds From Disaster_ on YouTube, as well as _Precure_. Without further ado, let us begin the quest to avenge Miyako, and prevent Xehanort from gaining another set of dark creatures.

**THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY**

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle!_ (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, _Force Unleashed_ cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo_ (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries

_StarCraft_ (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto_ (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu

_Kingdom Hearts _(characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix

_Neon Genesis Evangelion _(characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax

_Elfen Lied _(Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

_Red vs. Blue _(The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

_My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

_Transformers Film Series _– Hasbro, Michael Bay

_Transformers: Beast Wars _– Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

_Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon _– Naoko Takeuchi

_Digimon _– Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise

_Yu-Gi-Oh! _– Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media

_Sonic the Hedgehog _– SEGA

_Gears of War _– Epic Games

_Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles _– Columbia Tristar (I think)

_Mass Effect _– Bioware

_Metroid _– Nintendo

_Puella Magi Madoka Magica _– Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

_The Legend of Zelda _– Nintendo

_Tōhō _– ZUN

**_RWBY _****– Rooster Teeth**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-****_BOOK 25 START_****-**

**Dimension/Realm R38Y – Forever Fall Forest**

**One Day After Book 24's Ending Scene**

A large Midchildan-style teleportation rune-circle appeared on the ground, disrupting some of the carpet of red leaves that covered the soil. Atop the circle, several people appeared: Teana, the six members of Group Madoka, Aqua, Sunset Shimmer (presently in human form), and Reisen Inaba, the latter two fresh from temporally-displaced training, with the rabbit _Yōkai_ clad in a long hooded cloak that hid her ears and tail. They looked around at their locale as the teleport circle faded.

"I thought the scans showed it was summer in this hemisphere of the planet…" Sayaka said.

"This area is thick with magic" Reisen replied. "It's probably affecting the forest in some way to make it like this."

"Okay…" Teana said. "We need to find Beacon Academy. And watch out for those 'Grimm' things the intel warned us about."

"Where should we start looking?" Mami asked.

She received an answer in the form of a faint flare of magical energy sensed off in the distance, followed a second later by the echoing sound of weapon-fire. Immediately the group started moving, making chakra-powered leaps through the trees and heading in the direction that their ears and magical senses pointed them in. As they moved, however, they were attacked by a monstrous black bird, around the height of an Mgalekgolo with proportionately-sized wingspan and two claws sticking out from the front of each wing, as well as a white mask-like bone plate over its face. The huge bird dove at Aqua, letting out a shriek as it brought its armor-shredding talons to bear. Aqua promptly cast a Reflega spell around herself, and the shimmering barrier effortlessly bounced the attacker off, stunning it. Teana quickly fired a Crossfire Shot barrage, wounding the beast, and Aqua finished with a Strike Raid that beheaded it, sending it crashing to the ground below.

"And that was a Grimm, I'd guess" Sunset said. "If they're anything like the other dark creatures we deal with, they'll come in multiple types. …Or maybe they'll all be giant birds, I dunno."

The group kept moving, and before long they came upon the battle. Four teen girls were engaged with a sizable force of black, skull-masked creatures similar to the earlier bird; most looked like bipedal canids, with a minority like huge bears. The four girls each had rather unique weapons at their disposal. The smallest of the four, clad in a red and black dress complete with long red cape and with shoulder-length reddish-black hair, wielded a massive scythe which – judging by how she blasted a trio of wolf-types – had a high-powered rifle built into it. The second girl, dressed in white and with hair to match, wielded a rapier-like weapon; she waved it, and the observing DDF group sensed the burst of magic as she conjured a wave of seven white bolts that curved through the air and slew five more of the beasts. The third girl, clad in black with some white & purple, with mid-back black hair topped by a black bow, wielded a rather weird weapon – a combination of gun, sword, and reinforced ribbon that allowed for some quite unorthodox methods of attacks. The last of girls, a tall and busty blonde wearing an open brown jacket over a tight yellow shirt and super-short black shorts, had yellow-plated gauntlets on that apparently launched concussive Fire-magic blasts.

"Locals from Beacon?" Sunset asked.

"Most likely" Homura replied.

"Shall we jump in?" Aqua asked.

Teana nodded. "Pick your targets and let's make some friends. Go!"

With that, the DDF group leapt into the fray. The four locals got quite the shock as a large group of new people came in out of nowhere and started helping against the Grimm. Reisen, her cloak still in place, pulled out and activated two long plasma blades; it was like the typical double-pronged Sangheili plasma sword were split into two separate halves, with each 'plasma prong' attached to / being projected from a custom-made handle/projector, with the projecting part able to be adjusted forward & back and thus change the angle of the blade relative to the handle, enabling several different configurations, styles, and angles of attack. She used her new weapons, and the intense training she'd been given with them, to cut down a small pack of the wolf-type Grimm. Sunset kept _her_ new weapon in reserve for now, opting instead to use modest Fire-magic blasts and pistol-fire to do her share. Sayaka used one of the two final 'gifts' Miyako had transferred to her, summoning and letting fly a wave of ice spears that skewered a pair of bear-types. Teana simply dove in, Mirage Longswords out, and started carving her way through the enemy.

"Who the heck are you guys?" 'Little Red' asked as she swung her scythe through a wolf-type's neck.

"Call us travelers" Aqua replied. "We can explain more when things are a little calmer."

The remaining Grimm were quickly dealt with, and the two groups came together.

"Thanks for the help" 'Little Red' said. "We came out here to fight some Grimm for training, but there were way more of them than we were told would be here."

"Okay, so…" the tall blonde started. "Who are you girls, exactly? And what brings you here?"

"It's a long story," Teana replied, "but suffice to say, we're hunting someone. I can give you more detailed info a little while from n-"

"Heeeeey!"

Four more people came jogging out through the trees a little ways away – two girls, one with short orange hair and carrying what looked like a white & pink grenade launcher, the other tall with red hair and carrying a spear, and two boys, the taller with black hair with a pink streak carrying a pair of green bladed pistols, the other blond & blue-eyed carrying a sword and shield. They all looked a bit harried.

"Jaune!" 'Little Red' called out.

"Ruby!" the blond boy responded, a little breathless. "Things! They attacked us! They're not Grimm!"

Just as Jaune said that, the shadows around them seemed to darken, as black creatures with gold-yellow eyes pulled themselves out. The DDF group readied themselves immediately.

"Damn it, the Heartless are already here!" Kyōko shifted her stance with her spear.

"The hell are these things?" the girl in white asked.

"We'll explain when they're dead" Teana replied. "Just hang tight."

There weren't very many Heartless compared to previous engagements, and they were mostly Shadows with Neoshadow support, so Aqua and Madoka were able to use their Keyblades and basic spells to clear them out quickly and without incident.

"Okay…" Teana said to the locals. "The long story is _really_ long, but the short version is we're hunting a murderer. Also, our target's superior already has command over three different types of dark creatures, the Heartless being one of them, and we have reason to believe he's planning to forcibly assume control of the Grimm as a fourth. Our intel says that our prime target has gone to ground somewhere in the vicinity of 'Beacon Academy' or its bordering forest, and that Beacon's headmaster might be able to assist us in some way."

"If someone's trying to gain control of the Grimm," the black-haired girl with the bow said, "they'll either fail and end up accidentally strengthening or evolving the Grimm… or worse, they'll _succeed_ and give them direction. We need to take this to Ozpin."

After a few seconds, Ruby nodded. "Come with us."

**-****_SCENE BREAK_****-**

**Beacon Academy – Headmaster's Office**

**80 Minutes Later**

The trip back to Beacon had been followed by being ushered into Professor/Headmaster Ozpin's office, where the DDF group had given an explanation regarding the Dimensional Defense Force and its enemies, as well as the fundamentals of things like magic and ki/chakra to Ozpin, Professor Glynda Goodwitch, and "Teams Ruby and Juniper".

"This is certainly a lot to take in" Ozpin said as he took a sip from his coffee. "But, with the proof you've shown us to substantiate your claims…"

"So mainly," Yang said, "we gotta stop this Xehanort guy from gaining control of the Grimm, right?"

"And what do you mean about 'hunting a murderer'?" Weiss asked.

"The details will be explained in the footage we discussed" Homura replied.

"So…" Sunset spoke up. "What little intel we have suggested a second sapient race on this world. Is that right?"

Pyrrha nodded. "The Faunus" she said. "They're near-humans who bear some animal traits – usually ears, a tail, or horns, though never more than one of each – say, a Faunus will have animal ears but no matching tail, or vice-versa."

"The Faunus have a complicated history with humanity" Blake picked up. "They were subjected to horrible mistreatment, treated as sub-human, brutalized and enslaved and forced into ghettos and… At one point, it finally boiled over when the Faunus did something that the humans never expected: they banded together, organized, and went to war against humanity. After nearly 40 years of horrible, bloody fighting, a peace treaty was signed. But oppression and institutionalized racism continued.

"Before long, an organization called the White Fang formed – Faunus dedicated to protecting their brethren, and staging peaceful protests and other nonviolent resistance calling for better treatment, legal protection, and such. But, around five years ago, an internal coup saw White Fang come under new leadership, and the organization rapidly devolved into terrorism, vandalism, and murder. This sudden shift to radicalism and violent action drew in many Faunus who'd wanted to strike back at the humans, and considered the old Fang's nonviolent methods as weak and ineffective. But many Faunus who'd been with the organization before the coup left in disgust, unwilling to take part in the violence. …The vast majority were then hunted down and killed by the new 'Bloody Fang', as it's been unofficially dubbed by the defectors, and their deaths were horrific; they were tortured in ways that would leave you unable to sleep well for the rest of your days if you witnessed it. The few who escaped live their lives in constant fear, always on the move, dreading the day they'll see that emblem appear out of the corner of their eyes…"

"Blake…" Yang placed a hand on her teammate's shoulder, looking at her with concern.

Blake looked around. From the looks of it, Ozpin, Ren, Homura, and Sunset had already figured out her secret. She let out a long breath, and then reached up and removed the bow atop her head, revealing the pair of cat ears it'd been hiding. Varying reactions of shock and surprise were shown by Goodwitch, Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha, which quickly shifted as they remembered what Blake had said about the lives of defectors, and understanding dawned. She turned to Ozpin and Goodwitch.

"I enrolled in Beacon partly to become a Huntress so I could help protect people from Grimm… and partly for protection from my former colleagues. If they catch me… One guy was hung drawn & quartered, another was thrown into a cremator oven and roasted alive with a special heat-resistant camera showing what was inside on a screen for 'spectators', one girl had her tail cut off and then used to strangle her, another was beaten and 'violated' until she could barely move, then bound and tossed into a big tank of water to drown…"

Ruby's, Weiss', Nora's, and Madoka's faces were pale with horror, and the others weren't much better. Wordlessly, Yang walked up to Blake and gave her a hug.

"We won't let the White Fang get near this academy" Ozpin said, deadly serious. "I _will not_ allow such horror to be done to one of _my students_."

After a few quiet seconds, Ruby turned to Professor Goodwitch. "Aren't you gonna say something like Blake being 'too dangerous to keep at Beacon' and you wanna toss her out so the Fang won't damage the school trying to get her?" she asked, accusatory.

"What?-!" Glynda near-screeched. "How could you say that?-!"

"I wouldn't put it past you, to be honest" Lie Ren said.

The looks that the rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR gave her said it all.

"How… How _dare _you?-! You actually think I could _ever_ be that horrible?-! How could you take sternness and misinterpret it as being a heartless monster?-!"

"Well, you haven't really ever said or done _anything_ to hint at even the barest _hint_ of concern over our safety!" Jaune blurted out. "It's all just the academy and rules and the 'greater good' to you!"

"You do frequently come off as ice-hearted, Glynda" Ozpin chimed in. "I know otherwise, but the students apparently do not. I didn't want to tell you, but your image among the students is fairly good in terms of teaching quality, but for personality and apparent concern for safety it's… well, _horrendously_ poor. The students of Beacon seem to, for the most part, believe that you hold no concern for their individual well-being whatsoever."

"I… I don't believe this! All the work I've done to keep the academy _and_ its students safe! All the safety measures and rules, the escort system, the improved health-care system, the emergency evacuation tunnels, all the countless things I implemented when we inherited this academy to improve safety! And the students think I'm some heartless witch who'll toss a girl out to a fate worse than death just to protect a bunch of old buildings?-!"

"…Did you ever make it publically known that you were responsible for the safety overhauls?" Teana asked.

"Seems like you try much too hard to keep a 'cool and professional' exterior," Homura said, "and thus come off as cold, ruthless, and unconcerned."

Goodwitch flopped down into a chair, holding her fingertips to her temples as her gaze turned down to the floor, trying to comprehend how her image amongst the students had gone so wrong. While this was happening, Reisen (her hood still up) walked around Blake, observing her.

"No tail…" the girl murmured. "Human ears along with cat ones… Definitely different from a _Yōkai_…"

"A what?" Pyrrha asked.

"_Yōkai_ are a type of entity that we interact with once in a great while" Teana replied. "They're rather isolationist for the most part. They're partly-spiritual beings in nature, so they generally have lifespans in the centuries, at least, though _Yōkai_-human hybrids generally live shorter, closer to human lifespans. They also tend to vary by realm in how human-like they are in physical form. And some _Yōkai_ are animal-types, with parts to match. Amongst the DDF, we have Kotarō, a young boy who's half human and half dog _Yōkai_, Setsuna, who's half crow _Yōkai_ and has a pretty nice set of wings, and…"

The DDF's newest addition pulled back her hood, allowing her sizable ears to spring free.

"…Reisen, a full-blood rabbit _Yōkai_."

The girl in question used one hand to pull back her cloak to reveal her fuzzy fluff-puff tail, and the other to move her hair aside and show the smooth skin where a human's ears would be. The locals, particularly Blake, looked on with interest.

"Well, how 'bout that…" Nora murmured.

"Ears _and_ tail," Pyrrha said, "and no human-type ears…"

"What's this?" Aqua called out from a table nearby, holding up a small blue crystal.

"That's called 'Dust'" Weiss replied. "It's-"

"Crystallized mana…" Aqua interrupted, sounding a bit awed. "It's planetary mana – magical energy – in solid, crystal form… How did you do this?"

"It's found that way naturally," Blake replied, "and mined as a power source."

"...Natural deposits of mana crystals…" Teana breathed out, sounding a little shocked. "This… This is big… The TSAB had determined that mana _cannot_ crystallize naturally; it has to be forced to do so by magi-technological means, and can't occur in nature."

"It's been an important material for our civilization for centuries" Ozpin replied. "We assumed it was normal. But you say it doesn't occur naturally anywhere else in the universe?"

"As far as we're aware, no" Teana replied.

"There are those joint studies by the Bureau and the Cybertronians that suggest Energon might be a form of mana crystal" Aqua remembered. "They're still running tests."

Ozpin leaned forward, resting his chin atop his folded hands. "Alright…" he said. "We'll do what we can to help you track down your target, and… well, we definitely have a vested interest in stopping the Grimm from gaining an intelligent leader. Also, I'll increase security along the academy grounds' perimeters, keep a closer eye out for White Fang activity, and I'll have some of my contacts try to gather more info… and maybe find other former members like Miss Belladonna, so they can be protected. We'll try to stop them from catching & killing any more."

"Thank you, Headmaster" Blake replied, sounding a bit relieved.

"Now…" the man continued, turning to Teana and Aqua. "Let's see that 'footage', shall we?"

**_-CHAPTER END-_**

I almost had a "Grimm are Unversed" reveal/plotline thrown in as well, but I really have no idea if Rooster-Teeth might come out with a radically different origin for the Grimm, so I left that on the cutting room floor.

Next time, the hunt commences. Though, expect another delay as I continue watching stuff on YouTube and tackling other projects.


	2. Rumble

Delay caused by A) finishing _Seconds from Disaster_, B) working on a paper for class (I stopped working on this chapter entirely, for five days, until I finished the report), C) writer's block (ate up just as much time – if not more – than the report, as usual), and D) computer issues (a piece of plastic was dragging on my video card's fan, 'baseball-card-in-wheel-spoke' style, making a god-awful buzzing noise that took a while to discover and fix).

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Beacon Academy**

After the initial 'meeting' in Ozpin's office, Teams RWBY and JNPR, along with Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, were shown the lengthy 'archival footage'; they now understood the gravity of the situation, the potential danger if Xehanort got control of the Grimm, as well as the nature of the DDF's current main target Malia's Heartless, and how, for Group Madoka, the wounds were still very fresh. The next morning, at the academy's breakfast, Ozpin introduced the 'travelers' (keeping some details hidden; Reisen still had her enchanted 'Don't-Notice-My-Oddness' cloak) while warning the students & staff about Malia, including a still image of the evil human-form Heartless with her hand through Ishimura's chest, to highlight how dangerous she was and reinforce his order that the students were not allowed to attempt to engage Malia if she was spotted, to instead inform the 'travelers' or the academy staff immediately. The Heartless were also warned of; though most were no tougher than the average low-level Grimm, a few types were serious threats, especially to raw students still in-training.

The DDF personnel were stationed in guest quarters near the staff quarters section; in addition, the _Starshot_ assumed geosynchronous orbit high over the academy. They learned the basics of the planet Remnant's history, including the hellish centuries-long 'war' against the Grimm that killed a significant chunk of the population and led to the establishment of the four primary nations, bastions of civilization near-surrounded by monster-infested wildernesses. The technological advances made despite this cataclysmic event, thanks in part to discovery of the mana crystals known as 'Dust', were fairly impressive given the circumstances, reminding of some TSAB or even older UNSC tech designs.

The DDF team quickly got to know the eight local individuals who'd found themselves pulled into the thick of things. Ruby Rose was cheerful and excitable, idealistic and optimistic, though a little lacking in self-confidence and social skills. She had considerable skill with her combination combat scythe / marksman rifle (especially considering the monstrous recoil of the thing). Weiss Schnee was somewhat abrasive and arrogant, but apparently she was currently much better than she used to be. She was heiress to a 'mega-corp' that had a long and nasty history with the Faunus, and was presently trying to break free of the racism she'd grown up with as a result. Her rapier-like sword had multiple compartments filled with 'Dust' finely configured in varying ways; this allowed her to channel a small amount of her own magical energy through them to trigger varying effects. It bore strong resemblance to a very primitive 'Device' in function.

Blake Belladonna – with shinobi-level agility, and armed with a short-sword attached to a gun and a ribbon for unorthodox attacks, with a sheathe sharp enough to use as a second weapon – was quiet, calm, and low-key (so long as the White Fang or racists weren't involved). She was a little slow to trust, but very loyal to those she knew well. She took great care to hide her Faunus status; in all of Beacon Academy nine people knew her secret – Ozpin, Goodwitch, the others of Team RWBY, and the four of Team JNPR, and of those only her three teammates knew before yesterday. Cursory examinations and questioning had revealed that she had personally witnessed – either directly on-scene or via smuggled-out camera footage – several torture-executions performed by the White Fang against defectors like her, and had some psychological scars as a result; in particular, the female wolf-type Faunus who'd been savagely beaten and gang-raped until she couldn't move and then tossed into a water tank to drown two months before Blake came to Beacon had been a close friend of Blake's. She had witnessed it, and hadn't had a good night's sleep since. The DDF had already summoned for a therapist.

Yang Xiao Long, the last member of Team RWBY, was bombastic, eager, playful, and loved action and challenges, but she was also easygoing and kind-hearted, and a very devoted and loving big sister to Ruby. She frequently worked to get Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to socialize together, build team cohesion and strengthen bonds (which included mediating the semi-frequent fights between Weiss and the other two), and was pleased that as of very recently her efforts were paying off. She seemed to serve as semi-official team leader during 'peacetime', with Ruby's (slightly) superior tactical skills making her leader during combat scenarios. Yang's unique and surprisingly potent & effective weapons, which fired concussive bursts of Dust-fueled fire magic, was supplemented by her magic-enhanced strength, enabling bone-crushing punches imbued with additional burning and/or concussive force.

Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR, was an interesting case. A bit clumsy, lacking in self-confidence and courage, and self-taught, he nonetheless possessed a rare gift for tactics (he'd make a fine officer, some DDF personnel felt), as well as an unusually strong 'Aura' that could make him a truly fearsome combatant if he ever learned how to fully tap it. Amongst the many exotic weapons seen at Beacon Academy, his simple combination of a straight sword and collapsible shield looked out of place, but it was still effective enough to serve well; it helped that both were very well-made. His teammate Pyrrha Nikos was a smart, patient, kind and humble girl. She was also considerably skilled, though most of her experience was against human-sized targets, so she had trouble against bigger monsters like Boss-level Grimm. She had a round shield coupled with a multi-form weapon that could serve as a rifle, a blade, or a spear; she also had a 'Semblance' (either a magic Rare Skill or a chakra-based _Kekkei Genkai_) that gave her selective control over magnetism.

The other two members of JNPR, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, were childhood friends, and they couldn't be more different from each other. Nora was (some said overly) cheerful, hyperactive, with a short attention span and sometimes-odd train of thought, though she was also strong-willed, loved making people smile, and was fiercely protective of her friends. Her weapon was a grenade launcher that could transform into a hammer, and she'd actually taken the time & effort to stamp a big pink heart on the front of each grenade. Her partner Ren was much like Blake, quiet and calm, and he'd served as a sort of 'balance' to Nora's bubbly hyperactivity since they were kindergarteners, reining in her energy while she in turn kept him from being 'too sedentary' and not socializing enough. His weapons were two submachine guns with large extendable blades, and he was also a skilled martial artist, capable of taking down Grimm unarmed. However, his defenses and stamina were substandard; indeed, if his 'Aura'/energy-stamina reserves had been even a smidgen smaller, he'd have been legally deemed ineligible for Hunter training. Thankfully, the DDF had magic- and chakra-focused stamina-building exercises that could help him.

First they'd have to find out which of the two forces 'Aura' was, though.

**Day 2 – 11:15 AM**

The DDF were presently setting up a small outpost station near the edge of the forest, ostensibly to keep watch for Grimm incursions. Currently present were Team Madoka, Sunset & Reisen, and Team RWBY, mostly just killing time, comparing weapons, and swapping stories. As they relaxed, however, they got a sudden unwelcome surprise as a detector alarm went off, signaling approaching hostiles from the northeast. They hurried over, just in time to see a mass of Heartless and Unversed approaching along the edge of the forest. Hurriedly they readied themselves, Group Madoka's members transforming and summoning their weapons.

"Well…." Sunset said as she pulled out from her pocket a small dark-red circular pendant of sorts, held between her fingers. "Let's see if the Bureau folks did this right!"

The pendant glowed, apparently becoming a mass of solid red-orange light, and rapidly expanded and changed shape; in the space of a second, it assumed its new form and re-solidified, having become a dark-red long metal staff, each end tipped by a chainsaw-like weapon. Sunset twirled it around a few times, as the chainsaws growled from being briefly activated.

"Nice, eh?" she said. "When I picked it up after the big Edo Tensei battle on Ulnar, I had the Bureau turn it into a Storage Device for me. In addition to being more durable now, the saws are activated by my mental command instead of having to hold down button-switches, and there's another little add-on that you'll have to wait & see for…"

The enemy was upon them. Kyōko was the first to leap into the fray, followed shortly by Yang and Sunset, and then everyone else; blades, bullets, and blasts of magic began cutting down the dark creatures' numbers. There were more enemies at once than Team RWBY was used to, but they had lots of help this time to balance it out. Sunset made good use of her weapon, mowing down Shadows and Floods by the pack, while Reisen used her plasma blades in tandem with her older method-of-attack of magic bolts that moved in seemingly-random patterns to confuse their targets. Blaster bolts and concussive fire bursts from Kyōsuke's and Yang's gauntlets joined magic blasts from Madoka, Homura, & Mami, and Sayaka, Weiss, Kyōko, Blake, & Ruby used their various blades to cull the enemy's numbers.

As Sunset fought her way through a squad of Neoshadows, she suddenly spotted a cloaked figure wielding a rapier-like sword, coming at Yang from behind while the blonde was distracted. Thinking fast, Sunset activated her upgraded weapon's hidden feature, thrusting it forward in that direction… and triggering the sections of the staff to magically separate, revealing that they were linked by chains much like Kyōko's staff. The chainsaw-end lunged into the hooded enemy's path just as she thrusted her rapier at Yang's back, blocking the stab and alerting Yang to her ambusher's presence. Yang leapt away, firing a few fire bolts at the enemy as Sunset's weapon retracted, the sections re-connecting into a single staff again. The cloaked enemy's cloak was hit, and she tossed it off as it started to burn, revealing Malaxi, Malia's Nobody. The others quickly took notice.

"So _you're_ here" Kyōko growled. "Where's your other half?"

"Oh, did you miss me, little red?"

The Heartless and Unversed stepped back as another cloaked figure appeared. She pulled her hood back, revealing Malia's Heartless with an evil grin and scars on her right cheek. Seconds later, Teana and Team JNPR arrived, immediately drawing their weapons.

"You're not exactly much of a threat with only one arm" Pyrrha said to the human-form Heartless. "You sure you wanna do this?"

Malia chuckled, and then threw her cloak off… and everyone stared in surprise at the pitch-black shadowy appendage that went from halfway up her upper left arm down to claw-tipped fingers.

"Like it?" she asked as she flexed her new fingers. "You didn't think Master Xehanort would leave one of his fiercest fighters with such a handicap, did you? He crafted this arm for me personally, basing it on a Neoshadow's arm and then modifying it to work for a human, and I must say I'm rather pleased with his workmanship. Now then…" She summoned her Dark Keyblade, as her smirk turned into a fanged grin. "I've already killed one of you; who wants to be Number Two?"

In the next instant, she brought her blade up to block a sword strike, as her vision was near-filled by Sayaka's enraged face.

"Oh, we have a volunteer already. How lovely~"

Weiss moved in a second later, helping Sayaka double-team Malia's Heartless. At the same time, Ruby and Sunset moved to engage Malaxi, while the dark creatures charged at everyone else to keep them occupied. Sayaka channeled her new Ice magic through her blade, chilling it to the point where a cut from it would cause localized frostbite. She struck with a flurry of blows which Malia's Heartless blocked, bits of ice forming on the fallen girl's Dark Keyblade only to be knocked off by the force of the blows. When Weiss pressed her attack as well, Malia had to give ground to avoid having her defense broken through, jumping back and firing a burst of Darkness bolts that were blocked by a Rune-Shield from Sayaka.

Sunset and Ruby's unorthodox weapons clashed with the rapier wielded by Malaxi, the evil human-form Nobody moving with elegance and economy of movement but also having visible difficulty in fending off both at once; the inferior capabilities of her weapon compared to the Dark Keyblade wielded by her counterpart, along with the skilled ferocity of her opponents and the size & oddness of their weapons, made it hard for her. She went for a piercing stab at Sunset, but the human-form Equestrian jumped back to dodge, while Ruby fired a close-range shot that Malaxi twisted out of the way of. Malaxi took the momentum of her spin and added it to a burst of Darkness bolts she fired/threw at the duo, but Sunset spun her staff to deflect them while Ruby flash-stepped to the side, leaving a few rose petals in her wake.

Pyrrha's spear-sword decapitated a pair of Scrappers in one swing, while Yang caught a Large Body's punches and then, in a display of her considerable strength, judo-threw the fat Heartless into a group of Shadows, crushing them. Jaune stunned a Bandit with a shield-bash to the face and then stabbed it through the chest to slay it, while Blake and Mami worked to clear the skies, shooting down the Air Soldiers and Axe Flappers. Nora's hammer made short work of a Bruiser, and Teana & Reisen used their energy blades to deal with anything the others missed.

Malia's Heartless went on the offensive, focusing on Weiss, driving the heiress back and trying to get around her defense. Weiss winced as she felt a bite of pain on her left arm, the edge of Malia's Keyblade catching her; though it bled, it was a small, shallow wound, probably not big or deep enough to scar. MH went for a strike at Weiss' neck, only for the blade to be kicked upward by Sayaka while Weiss let herself drop, the blade soaring over her head by a few inches; Weiss then hit MH in the gut with a rising kick, but the human-form Witch then flash-stepped back to avoid a slash to the chest from Sayaka. She fired a wave of Darkness-type _Sagitta Magica_, and Weiss quickly stabbed her sword into the ground, conjuring a wall of ice that blocked the strikes. Sayaka followed up with a _Suikōdan no Jutsu_, but Malia's Heartless used her Dark Keyblade to cut the water-shark in half lengthwise, and began swinging her weapon in wide arcs, firing off slicing waves of Darkness and forcing Sayaka & Weiss to frantically dodge to avoid being slashed.

After launching Ruby away with a kick, Malaxi gritted her teeth to keep from crying out as the teeth of one end of Sunset's chainsaw-staff slashed across her back. The villainess used what minor healing magic she had to dull the pain, and thrusted her palm toward Sunset. Thorny tendrils of Darkness, looking like gnarled roots, erupted from a point in the center of her hand toward Sunset, who threw herself to the side to avoid being skewered and lashed out with her chainsaw-staff to cut them away. Sunset then separated the parts of her weapon's staff and thrusted forward, chains magically extending as one chainsaw-head came soaring right at Malaxi. The Nobody leapt back, cleanly avoiding the strike… and the second her feet touched ground again, something big and red moved in from behind her, followed by something being pulled back. She looked down, to see the blade of Crescent Rose pressed against her chest. Malaxi barely had time to open her mouth to curse before Ruby pulled the trigger, diagonally bisecting her from just below her right armpit to her left waist. Malaxi's two halves fell to the ground a short distance from each other, rapidly coming apart into wavering wisps of black 'smoke' as she ceased to exist.

Malia's Heartless let out a wordless shout of fury at the death of her other self, and her attacks quickly became faster and more ferocious, pushing Weiss and Sayaka back. Then, however, Homura came in, using her shield to block a strike aimed at Sayaka's neck and then dealing an uppercut to the gut that made Malia's Heartless double over, followed by a kick to the head that sent her tumbling. As MH caught herself, on her hands & knees, she snarled as the sclera of her eyes turned black. She launched herself at Homura, Dark Keyblade wreathed in black energy. As she attacked with her blade, she also continuously conjuring bolts of Darkness that attacked from the sides and above, forcing Homura to divide her attention and movements, moving her shield as fast as she could to block the barrage of bolt and blade-strikes.

With a flash of light, Sayaka summoned her 'new' war-hammer and struck while her foe was distracted, blindsiding Malia's Heartless and knocking her off-balance. Malia stumbled right onto an anti-gravity trap planted by Weiss that launched her into the air, leaving her wide open for another hammer strike from Sayaka to slam her down to the ground at an angle. After a few seconds, Malia staggered to her feet, and looked up just in time to get tackled by Sayaka, who was holding a dagger/shard of ice which was then driven into its target, fulfilling a friend's final request. Malia's Heartless screamed as she stumbled back, one hand clutching at her destroyed left eye, which had black and dark-purple mist streaming from it.

"That's from Miyako, you bitch!" Sayaka shouted.

As Malia's Heartless gathered herself, she brought her synthetic left arm back, charging a sphere of Darkness energy. Suddenly, a Keyblade came spinning in, and MH cried out in surprised pain as the Strike Raid severed her artificial limb; the modified Neoshadow arm 'burst' into Darkness particles before it could hit the ground, as the Keyblade teleported back into Madoka's hands; the Heartless and Unversed had all been disposed of, freeing everyone else up to join in if they wanted. Before MH could think of anything, Sayaka charged in, sword in hand, and the now one-armed Heartless fought desperately to fend her off, but her dismemberment and loss of vision took their toll on her. Soon, Sayaka managed to land a blow to the left side of Malia's Heartless' head, stunning her, and then rammed her sword straight through the human-form Witch's chest. Malia let out a weak gasp as she stumbled backward, sword still stuck in her with the tip sticking out her back, and then she toppled over. Her body began to come apart into Darkness bits.

"It's done…" Sayaka said, panting. "Miyako has been av-"

She was interrupted by Malia's evil chuckle. "You think you've seen the last of me?" she said weakly, as her legs ceased to exist. "You've just killed my Nobody and my Heartless. That means… that I'll come back, as a whole person, with all the powers of _both_ my halves! _And_ I might even get my old plant-manipulation powers from when I was a regular _Puella Magi _back!" The disintegration was now up to her chest, Sayaka's sword falling to the ground. "I'll be back, whole and stronger than you've ever seen me! And I'll kill you all!"

Her evil laughter rang out, echoing in the wind even as her head came apart into Darkness particles that drifted away. Everyone stood around.

"So…" Jaune said. "Now what?"

"We prepare for Malia's return" Teana replied. "It's time to call in a few more people, and start training you locals; I've already got a sword-&-shield user in mind to help _you_, Jaune. For now, though, let's let Ozpin and Col. Holland know what happened."

As they started heading back, Kyōko walked beside Sunset.

"So…" the little redhead grinned. "Chain-staff, huh?"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: Reinforcements, a new character or two, and Cardin Winchester. …Yeah, yeah, I know.

I am thinking of MAYBE adding one or more of the following 'verses to future Books between this one and _Mass Effect 3_'s: _Metroid Prime 3_, _Dance in the Vampire Bund_, _Precure_ (specifically _HeartCatch, Suite, _and_ Smile_), _Katawa Shoujo_. …Probably won't do that last one, though: with the DDF's technology, some of the game's main cast's disabilities are fixable, and I'm afraid that "casually" repairing them when their problems are integral to their character, _and_ they're from a game where the big message is about how they're not any less of people for their problems, might be seen by some (or many) of my readers as insensitive, "able-ist", that sort of thing.


	3. Reinforcements and Random Boss Battles

The "new character" mentioned last chapter has been moved to a later chapter… or maybe even to a later Book; I haven't decided. Also, I've started watching _PreCure _(while writing this chapter, I watched the entirety of _HeartCatch_) to see if I'll want to make a Book for it. Also-also, I finally saw the LEGO Movie, but that's unrelated. …Spaceship

And now: reinforcements, a funny scene, and boss battles for the sake of having boss battles.

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Beacon Academy – Training/Sparring Hall**

**Next Day – 11:55 AM**

Many students were gathered to watch as matches were held, young Hunters-in-training testing each other under the watchful eyes of Professors Oobleck and Port. The DDF group was also attending, to check out what the young locals could do. Though, one thing tainted their visit…

"Can you believe this? Most of these wimps couldn't beat a single Beowulf."

"Yeah, and they actually let the Freaks participate! They should be kept in the field out back."

…Or rather, _four_ things: Team Cardinal. Arrogant, annoying, stuck-up, racist, and they were such notorious bullies that none of the students had the courage to try and shut them up. …Well, the members of Team Ruby or Team Juniper could probably do so with ease, but it was likely that this could cause more problems than it solved. Amongst the DDF group (who had the misfortune of being stationed close enough in the audience to Team Cardinal as to hear most of their remarks), a few members were nearing the end of their patience.

Up on the dueling stage, a girl with a dog tail stood hunched over somewhat, panting as she looked at her defeated opponent – a human girl splayed out on her back, exhausted and letting out a pained groan. As the victor staggered off of the stage and the defeated was half-carried away by her teammates, the Jerkass Brigade opened their mouths again:

"Ha! What a loser!" Russel Thrush called out at the defeated student. "Got her ass kicked by a bitch!"

"Yeah" Cardin smirked as he folded his arms and leaned back. "This whole school's really gone to the _dogs_…"

"THAT'S IT!-!"

Everyone was startled as the angry cry was followed by the cloak-wearing DDF member leapt onto the stage.

"You!" she called out with much anger, pointing right at Cardin. "Racist asshole! Get up here!"

"Reisen, you sure you wanna do this?" Sunset asked.

"Damn right I am" the disguised _Yōkai_ replied. "Come on, meathead! Let's do this!"

Cardin glared at his cloaked challenger with a small, cocky grin as he held his hand out to the side, and Sky Lark placed Cardin's mace into his hand. The bully leader then stepped up onto the stage, taking position on the opposite edge of it from Reisen. The girl pulled out and activated one of her plasma blades, taking a stance with it held back & out, pointed in Cardin's direction, with her free hand held forward and also pointed at him. Cardin held his mace like a baseball bat waiting for the pitch.

At the starting buzz, Reisen fired from her hand a wave of a half-dozen magic bolts. Cardin swung his mace, releasing a localized pulse of energy that knocked them away, only to find Reisen charging in at him when he was open. He barely managed to leap back away from a thrust of her plasma blade, and then swung his mace for a return blow which she blocked. The two growled as they pushed against each other, the 'Aura' channeled through Cardin's weapon preventing it from being burned through by the blade. Reisen's right foot went for a downward kick at Cardin's left knee, but he spun to the side and went for a backhand to Reisen's face, only for the cloaked girl to duck and dodge it. Her free hand stabbed out at his throat, but he leaned back and straightened up so it hit his armor's chestplate with a clang, the transferred momentum still being enough to make him stagger back a step or two. He tried to hammer his mace down into her head, but she sunk low and rolled to the side, coming out on her feet.

Reisen sprang forward, free fist wreathed in energy, and Cardin hissed in pain as he caught the punch, feeling his fingers and forearm ache even with his Aura protecting him. He quickly had to move his mace to block a sword strike aimed at the base of his other arm, and went for a roundhouse kick aimed for Reisen's side, only for the cloaked girl to leap back and avoid it. She then went for a stabbing strike, but Cardin dodged the hit and hit her with a rising knee to the gut. As Reisen staggered back, briefly off-balance, Cardin swung his mace, catching her cloak. Reisen spun away to escape, but her cloak was torn free. Several people gasped as the mysterious girl was revealed – tall, shapely, with long pale-purple hair, and – most noticeably – a pair of large white rabbit ears.

"Explains her anger at Winchester's comments…" Professor Oobleck murmured. "Wait a minute… Is that a tail? A tail _and_ ears? How unusual…"

Cardin stared in surprise as he shook the cloak off of his weapon. Reisen glared at him as she very calmly reached down to her belt and grabbed hold of the other plasma-blade projector, igniting it and holding the two blades at her sides, slowly raising them. Then, with a short, wordless shout, she charged at him with frightening speed. Cardin cursed as he barely managed to bring his mace up to block a strike aimed at his chest, and then had to immediately move to block the other blade's thrust at his shoulder. Reisen's ferocious and swift assault quickly began pushing Cardin back; it took all he had to block or dodge her attacks, and striking back was right out. He gritted his teeth, feeling panic start to well up inside him, as the bunny-girl's assault gradually overwhelmed him.

Cardin cried out as one of Reisen's plasma blades grazed him, leaving a burning gash along his upper left arm. Next, one of her knees came up and hit him in the crotch. As he reflexively doubled over, the other knee rose up into his gut, and then the first knee came back to get him in the chin, rocking his head back and making him stagger backward, trying to regain his balance. Reisen swung one of her blades, and it cut across his chestplate diagonally, leaving a glowing-hot gash in the metal as well as causing a long, thin first-degree burn on the underlying skin. Before his mace could hit the ground, Reisen deactivated one of her blades as her now-free hand shot out to catch it. She threw the mace overhead, and it impacted its owner's chest hard enough to send him flying a few feet, crashing to the floor of the duel stage on his back, a sizable dent now added to his chestplate's damage. Cardin then bit back a pained cry as a foot stood atop his wrist, pinning it to the floor, and opened his eyes just in time to see the crimson-eyed bunnygirl standing over him, thrusting the tip of her plasma blade down toward his face…

"Reisen!"

At her name being called by Teana, the _Yōkai_ came to an immediate halt, the tip of her blade a mere two inches from between Cardin's eyes. The usually-cocky bully was trembling, eyes wide, as it sank in how terrifyingly close to death he had just come. Reisen was panting lightly as she regained control of herself, and after a few seconds she stepped back, deactivating and holstering her weapons.

"Maybe from now on you'll watch what you say and do" she told him. "The next person you piss off might not have anyone to stop them…"

Cardin shakily nodded, and then scrambled off of the stage, being supported by his teammates as his shaking legs all but gave out on him. Reisen walked over to her cloak and picked it up, but then noticed all the students looking at her. She sighed, and let the cloak fall.

"So… you're a Faunus?" one student asked.

"Not exactly, no" Reisen replied, gesturing one hand at her fluffy bunny-tail while the other hand moved her hair to show her lack of human ears. "I'm something… else; I'm what's called a _Yōkai_, which doesn't have an exact translation in your language. I can't give you all the details right now, but suffice to say I'm farther from 'human' than the Faunus are; I have a longer lifespan than either, parts of my psychological make-up are subtly different, my fertility cycle is different… and there's the more overt physical differences, like my ears. Sorry I can't say any more until the higher-ups okay it."

"So… Do your people have any trouble with humans where you come from?" a Faunus boy asked.

"Actually, where I come from, most humans don't even know _Yōkai_ exist nowadays. We're a pretty isolationist society; I'm one of the few to ever venture out into the wider world. We don't really have any conflict or distaste towards humans; we just… like our privacy, you could say. Again, though, I can't give too much more detail; heck, I've probably said too much already."

"Wherever you came from," a girl said, "your people must be strong. You totally handed Cardin his ass!"

The boy in question grumbled as his teammates helped him out of his damaged armor.

"We pride ourselves on personal and magical strength, and we have non-lethal fights with each other all the time, for training, for settling grudges, and other stuff. As for Cardin…" Reisen scowled. "I hate racists and speciesists. I always have. I have my own personal reasons, which I'm not yet willing to share with you guys. Now, if you all don't mind, I've had enough questions for today."

She stepped down from the stage, over to her DDF comrades. Sunset put a hand on her shoulder, and Teana gave her a nod.

"For the record," the redhead told her, "I would've gone up there and kicked his ass if you hadn't beaten me to it. Anyway, we got more people comin' in a little while; wanna go wait for them?"

"Eh sure, why not?"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Beacon Academy – Staff/Guest Building – Outdoor Garden**

**12:20 PM**

"So…" Yang spoke up. "Who we waitin' for?"

"A few people" Teana replied. "We've got another team coming, as well as three members of my team, two members of a third team, and two newer recruits who nonetheless have quite a bit of pre-DDF experience."

"A 'few'…" Ren said.

"Well, compared with some of the other group sizes we've tackled problems with…"

A teleportation circle appeared near the center of the garden, and everyone stood by as a flash of light deposited several people – the seven kids of Theta Team; Marie, Sarah, and Ahsoka from Gamma Team; Kaede K. and Subaru from Sigma Team; and the two Links, Heroes of Time and Twilight. Despite having seen the 'footage', the local eight couldn't help but briefly stare a little at the two Diclonii and the alien Jedi.

"You guys been briefed?" Kyōko asked.

Marie nodded. "Malia's Heartless and Nobody are dead, so her Whole-Self will be coming back soon, just like Xehanort did."

Teana nodded. "Also, when her Heartless was dying, she mentioned that her original self had plant-manipulation powers. So, on top of Darkness-based attacks and her Keyblade, we might have to deal with Malia summoning wood spears or poison-spewing flowers or vines with steel-shredding spikes or something like that."

"Hey, we got you, Marie, Homura, and Anya to burn 'em away if she does send those out at us" Sarah replied. "We have a type advantage."

"Type advantage can be nullified by Level difference…" Anya murmured. "Hit a Level 75 Venusaur with a Level 20 Charmeleon's attack, and it ain't gonna do much…"

"W-We'll be fine" Erika gave her a reassuring smile. "You've gotten stronger s-since _Mundus Magicus_. Laicixa w-wouldn't have made you part of Sigma Team if she didn't think y-you could handle it."

"Alright, let's just keep training and preparing for now" Teana said. "We have no idea when Malia will resurface, so let's all be as ready as we can be when she does."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Same Day – 5:46 PM**

The day had been good so far. Twilight-Link had already started helping Jaune improve his technique, Sarah and Yang got along wonderfully (to no-one's surprise), Ruby and Laicixa were comparing Crescent Rose and Scythe-Form Voulge, and word of the newer arrivals had already spread through the Academy. In addition, one member of the Local Eight had already made a new friend who wasn't even physically present, speaking with her via a vid-chat.

"And right after the tournament," Weiss was saying excitedly, "there's going to be a ball held at the Academy! I'll finally get the chance to wear that dress I've kept in reserve for months!"

"_Oh, how lovely for you, dear!_" Rarity replied on the vid-screen, as a bored-looking Rainbow Dash lounged on a couch behind her. "_I wonder if it will compare with some of the balls I've been to in Canterlot; of course, most of those I spent gathering new clients for my business…_"

Marie walked up, biting back a mischievous grin. "Well," she said, "there's this one guy back on my homeworld, and all the social pages say he has the biggest balls of all."

There was a faint *snerk* from Sarah in the background as she realized what her sister was setting up.

"_Oh, really? Perhaps you could introduce us!_"

Weiss nodded. "I do have sort of a thing for fancy balls…"

Marie tried not to smirk. "Yes, he has them held fairly often. His ballroom is always full, and everybody comes and comes again!"

Yang and Rainbow Dash had joined Sarah in awareness of what was happening, and both were struggling to hold back big grins.

"Ah, so it's someone who likes to hold balls all the time" Weiss said obliviously. "Well, that sounds like someone I can like!"

"_Indeed,_" Rarity agreed, a sparkle in her eyes. "_It's always such wonderful fun to attend balls!_"

"And they always have such good food," Weiss continued, "like seafood cocktail, crabs, crayfish…"

Marie's voice hitched a bit as she fought back a laugh. "Some balls he holds for charity, and some for fancy dress. But when they're held for pleasure, well, that's the ones he likes best."

"_Ah yes, all the balls I've attended have been quite pleasurable!_" Rarity said, failing to notice Rainbow Dash quietly cracking up behind her.

"Holding those balls must be such wonderful fun!" Weiss said, starry-eyed.

'Is she really?' Yang mouthed to Sarah, barely containing herself.

'Yep' the other blonde replied, in a similar state.

"Weiss…" Ruby murmured, holding a hand to her red face.

Marie finally let a quick giggle slip, but she caught herself and delivered the knockout blow. "Yes, and it's quite energetic – his balls are always bouncing, to the left and to the right." She now had a huge grin. "It's his belief that his big balls should be held every night…"

At this point, Sarah and Yang finally busted up laughing, with Rainbow Dash following soon after. Weiss and Rarity looked utterly perplexed, until Marie gave them a sly grin while waggling her eyebrows. Finally, the two fancy girls got the 'joke'. Their faces went beet-red, and they looked mortified and rather angry. Marie finally lost hold of her laughter, holding her stomach as she all but doubled over.

"_H-How dare you?-!_" Rarity shouted.

"That isn't funny!" Weiss snapped, stomping her foot as her face flushed.

"Y-You…" Marie broke out into more giggles. "You know, I agree; holding balls _is_ quite fun! Glad you girls feel the same way!"

There was a thud as Rainbow Dash rolled/fell off of the couch and onto the floor behind Rarity, her hooves visible kicking in the air as she laughed her tail off. Sarah and Yang were holding each other up as they laughed, Yang throwing her fist in the air with a "Wooo!". And then Marie called up her Omnitool, and a song started playing from it:

"_…the social pages say I've got the biggest balls of all! I've got big balls! I've got big balls! And they're such big balls…_"

Dash was literally rolling on the floor laughing, with Yang & Sarah not too much better. Ruby and Teana had finally started laughing, too, and Blake was conspicuously hiding her mouth with her hand. Marie walked away, still giggling.

"You won't get away with this!" Weiss roared, her face as red as a tomato.

"_BUT WE'VE GOT THE BIGGEST! BALLS OF THEM ALL!_" Marie and Sarah sang along with the end of the chorus.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Same Day – 7:10 PM**

Three evil energy signatures were detected simultaneously in areas surrounding the academy grounds. Thus, three trios set out to deal with the problem. Now, backlit by the setting sun, three battles will take place.

In a grassy field area a little ways away from the primary area of the Academy, Weiss, Erika, and Kyōsuke were on alert as they scanned the area. They'd yet to encounter anything, but they knew how quickly that could change.

"I-Is it just me," Erika spoke up, "o-or does it feel a bit… colder than it s-should?"

"It… kinda does" Kyōsuke admitted. "It doesn't feel natural."

"You're right" Weiss said. "It doesn't get quite this cold in this area while the Sun's still out at this time of year… Something's causing this."

Seconds after she said that, a Dimension-Shift Barrier suddenly enveloped the area, trapping the trio. The temperature suddenly dropped dramatically, frost forming on the grass, and the trio used their Aura or magic to protect and warm their bodies.

(BOSS MUSIC: _Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess _– "Blizzeta" (minus the music-box part at the start))

A cold and bitter wind blew in from all directions, snow and ice particles swirling together in a miniature cyclone in front of the group. The opaque whirlwind grew larger and taller, and then abruptly dissipated and vanished, revealing a rather large monster; it stood on four long, thin insectoid legs with spiked tips, its body seemed to be a single angular thing without any clear head or torso and plenty of back-&-upward-jutting spikes, with a single large red eye with the Unversed symbol in the middle on the front, and its entire bluish-white body looked to be made of magically-animated ice.

**Freezing Unversed Monster – ICE STALKER**

"…Erika, Kyōsuke, do either of you have any heavy-duty Fire attacks?" Weiss asked.

"I-I have a few Fire spells," Erika replied, "but it's n-not my affinity, so…"

"Not mine, either" Kyōsuke said. "My gauntlet can fire blaster bolts, which do burn damage, but they probably won't do more than scratch _that_ thing."

"We're doing this the hard way. Great…"

The monster let out a shrieking roar as it charged at the trio, and they scattered as one of its legs speared down at where they had just been. Erika shot a Fira spell at the Ice Stalker's side while at the same time Kyōsuke fired blaster bolts at its eye. But the huge Unversed shifted its position so that the bolts hit the thick ice that surrounded its eye, while the fireball melted/blasted off part of one of the monster's larger back-mounted ice spikes. The Ice Stalker then released a focused stream of freezing air at Kyōsuke's legs, encasing them in ice and freezing them to the ground; his magic protected his body from the extreme cold, but he was stuck. The monster charged at him, but Weiss leapt into its path and formed a large glyph/rune shield that it smacked into, while Erika rushed in and used her Keyblade to break the ice and free Kyōsuke.

The large ice spikes along the Ice Stalker's back 'bristled', and suddenly a barrage of dozens of ice needles shot out at the trio. Weiss and Kyōsuke got behind Erika as she cast Reflega to withstand the assault, and Weiss cast her Star Shower attack, the bolts of energy curving out around the barrier and hitting the Ice Stalker from several angles, blasting chunks out of its ice body. The wave of ice needles stopped, and Erika fired a Prism Rain attack, the multi-colored magic bolts racing out; some of them hit where Weiss' bolts had already struck, dealing more damage. The monster charged at them again, forcing them to scatter or be trampled.

Erika scored a Strike Raid to the Ice Stalker's eye, and the beast shrieked in fury as it staggered back, briefly blinded. Weiss flashed forward, unleashing a flurry of Dust-strengthened blows with her Myrtenaster, cutting/breaking through some of the armor-ice of the monster's 'face', and finishing with a mighty blow that cut deep into one of its legs. The Ice Stalker let out a furious screeching roar as a gust of icy wind blew Weiss back and forced Erika to shield her eyes. Kyōsuke fired a grenade from one of his gauntlets, hitting the base of the damaged leg and blowing it off.

The Ice Stalker roared and crouched, building power and bending its three remaining limbs. After a few seconds, it leapt several meters into the air, and stopped, hovering. Its three limbs and the jagged-ice stump of the fourth folded up and changed shape, its body shifting and moving in ways that solid ice wasn't supposed to be able to. Its main body took on a more uniform, almost aerodynamic shape, a ridge/fin of ice jutting back from just above its eye, flanked by smaller fins and spikes. Its insectoid limbs disappeared, the ice being absorbed and added to the creature's mass, and soon two large arms sprouted from its sides towards the front, tipped with claws of sharp ice. The transformed Ice Stalker hovered above the ground, letting out a lower, almost mechanical-sounding cry that the ice of its body reverberated with, creating extra sound and an echo of sorts.

"Oh boy, Round Two…" Kyōsuke murmured.

"It l-looks like a few bosses I've s-seen in Kirby games…" Erika remarked. "…A-And Legend of Zelda. …And… W-Well, Nintendo seems to really like the 'Boss w-with giant hands' approach, n-now that I think about it…"

The transformed Ice Stalker flew toward the group, swinging its right claw at Weiss, who leapt up to dodge it and landed on the outstretched arm. Weiss ran along the limb towards the Ice Stalker's face, Myrtenaster readied for an impaling thrust to the eye, only for the Stalker to abruptly throw itself to the side, throwing Weiss off-balance and off of the limb, though she managed to fire a Star-Shower bolt at its eye as she fell. The flying ice monster screeched as it drifted backward several meters, and then several horizontal spikes jutted out from the perimeter of its body as it folded its arms up. It flew at the trio while spinning, acting like a giant flying buzzsaw. The trio leapt out of the way, and Kyōsuke fired at it as it passed, blaster bolts burning 'pits' into its icy body and blasting off one of its side-spikes.

It came back around for another pass, but it flew too low over a gravity trap laid by Weiss, which activated and abruptly yanked it down to the ground, bits of ice shattering and breaking off as its spinning was stopped. It called out as it righted itself, hovering again as its arms unfolded. Two of the ice 'fins' along its back stood up and split down the middle, opening up to reveal two columns of ice spikes. They were then launched/fired as high-velocity ice spears aimed at the trio. Weiss and Kyōsuke formed Rune Shields, while Erika used her Keyblade to bash away the ice spears that would've hit her. Kyōsuke fired off a Lightning-type _Sagitta Magica_ barrage, focusing many of the bolts on the Ice Stalker's right hand and blowing it off. Weiss rushed in next, her Myternaster glowing red as Dust/mana was channeled through it, and with a mighty swing she severed the monster's left hand.

Erika charged a large amount of power into her Keyblade, such that it glowed. She tossed it in a Strike Raid, and it hit dead-on, but instead of teleporting back to Erika it curved around and struck again from a different angle, and again, and again, and again. The Ice Stalker cried out as chunks of its body were blasted off, weakening and disorienting it. Finally, when the Keyblade was directly above the center of the Ice Stalker's body, Erika teleported herself to it, a Rasengan readied in her free hand, and she slammed the energy sphere down hard right into the middle. The spiraling concussive blast tore straight through the monster's weakened body, blasting a whirling cone of ice particles and energy down into the ground below. The red glow of the Unversed's eye went out, and Erika leapt away as it dropped to the ground, shattering on impact. The ice rapidly melted away, accompanied by Darkness particles evaporating, and the ambient temperature rose back up to normal as the Dimension-Shift Barrier came apart.

"Nice finisher" Weiss said. "…Couldn't you have done that at the start? Woulda saved us a lot of trouble…"

"N-No, it… probably w-wouldn't have worked if you two h-hadn't worn it down and weakened it first" Erika replied.

"So…" Kyōsuke said. "I wonder what kind of giant boss-monsters the other two groups are facing…"

_-Break-_

**Same Time**

Yang, Marie, and Mariko walked along the edge of Emerald Forest, eyes and ears sharp for anything suspicious. The little one was a bit nervous about walking right beside Yang, because the lack of heavy wind meant a lack of rustling leaves, which meant that the rustling of something else might be audible to the busty blonde. Mariko was walking a bit stiffly, overcompensating in an attempt not to make what she was wearing beneath her skirt obvious (not helped by the fairly short skirt she'd impulsively picked out today). She startled as she felt a hand on her head, and looked up at Yang's kind smile.

"Relax, kiddo" she said, petting Mariko's head. "I saw the 'archive footage', remember? My team and I already know, and we'd never give you or Erika grief over it." She chuckled. "It's actually really cute! So come on, stop worrying about your diaper making noise when you walk and just _relax_! In fact…"

Mariko squeaked in surprise as Yang picked her up, and she quickly found herself seated on Yang's shoulders, the older girl hanging onto her legs so she wouldn't fall.

"There we go!" Yang said cheerfully. "Now you don't have to worry! Better hang on so you don't fall; just be careful not to pull my hair out. Ah, I miss doing this with Ruby when she was littler…"

Mariko let out a soft giggle as she relaxed, settling in as best she could. 'Heheh… She really is a lot like Sarah…'

Watching this, Marie smiled as she too saw the similarity. They kept going for another minute or so, Yang and her new little friend chatting about this & that with Marie occasionally adding her two cents. Suddenly, Yang started sniffing.

"I smell smoke" she said.

"Hey, I smell it too" Mariko replied. "Is something burning?"

"I hope not" Marie said. "We're right next to a forest and all…"

Then, out of the setting Sun, a huge flaming projectile came soaring in right toward Yang. Mariko acted quickly, curling her vectors forward and merging them into a shield that withstood the projectile and its ensuing blast. She hopped down from Yang's shoulders, as she and the other two readied themselves for a fight.

"It looked like a giant feather that was on fire…" Marie said.

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts 2_ – "The Corrupted")

They then heard a loud, raptor-like cry. Seconds later, a humongous bird flew in from the west, and it looked to be either wreathed in or even actually _made_ of flames of red, orange, and yellow, with a white-fire head crest and glowing red eyes, and a Heartless symbol in the center of its forehead. It let out a hawk-like screech of near-deafening volume as it stared down at its targets.

**Blazing Heartless Raptor – NEVERMORE PHOENIX**

"So Xehanort's stealing designs from the Grimm now…" Marie remarked as she activated Charon's Cannon Mode in Light-Beam mode.

"Uh, the last time I fought one of these," Yang said, "it wasn't on fire. Any ideas?"

"Hit it really hard over and over until it stops moving?" Mariko suggested.

"In lieu of anything else, sure, let's go with that."

"Good, 'cause I got a few new tricks to try out!"

As the Nevermore Phoenix flew overhead, it dropped several spheres of fire down at the trio, and as they hit the ground they exploded. The group leapt away just in time, and started firing attacks at it as it passed – fire-bursts from Yang, Light-Beam shots from Marie, _Ki_ blasts from Mariko. A few of them hit, though they didn't seem to do much damage to the massive avian beast, inconsequential bits of flame and feather coming off. The beast, now angered, circled around to face the trio again. It pulled its massive wings back and then flapped them forward, unleashing a barrage of huge flaming feathers. The trio leapt out of the way, Mariko launching herself high and up toward the giant firebird. She used several vectors to latch onto it, and used the rest to begin slashing at its body, leaving burning-edge gashes that bled embers and Darkness particles. The huge Heartless started shaking and twisting around in the air while releasing pulses of heat, and after several seconds it succeeded in shaking Mariko off. This was a bad thing, because the little pinkette was now a few hundred feet in the air. And as far as Marie knew, she didn't know how to fly.

"Damn!_ Mariko!_"

However, 'as far as Marie knew' was a little bit out of date, as Mariko proceeded to demonstrate an amazing new usage of her unusually large, powerful, and plentiful vectors. They converged into four large shapes emerging from her back, solidifying and changing shape as they seemed to merge into new constructs which glowed a faint pink with her magical energy. Mariko flapped her four huge (22.5-meter span for the primary ones) vector-wings a few times and pulled out of her dive, soaring back upward as she launched a few magic blasts at the Nevermore Phoenix. Marie laughed a little, mostly from relief.

"You gotta be kidding me…" she said with a grin. "How long have you been keepin' _that_ up your sleeve, kiddo?"

"Uh, girls?" Yang called out from below. "I can't fly! Could ya maybe lure it down so I can hit it more easily? Or give me a lift, or something…"

Marie fired a Sunburst attack that the Heartless, distracted by Mariko shooting at it, flew right into. It screeched as the explosion of Light magic damaged it, some burning feathers being shed as it fell a few dozen feet before regaining control. It opened its beak and shot out a focused stream of flames at Marie, who quickly tossed up a big Rune Shield just in time. She strained as the fire pushed at her shield, but then a well-placed firebolt from Yang hit the Nevermore Phoenix in the face, causing it to screech as it cut off its fire breath and then dove at her. Yang kept firing bolts up at the massive flaming bird as it dive-bombed right for her, and as it drew near Mariko swept in and grabbed Yang, flying away while holding the blonde warrior with magic-strengthened arms and a couple of spare vectors. They circled around, and Yang fired more bolts as they flew at the Nevermore Phoenix again, pulling up to dodge its return fire.

Marie flew in with Charon in Blade Mode, a long thin blade of purple magical energy emerging from the arm-mounted Device. She lashed out with it as she flew past the Heartless, cutting into its left wing and slicing off a few fiery feathers. The avian beast let out a call that was almost a roar as it turned to face the mage as she passed. It began flapping its wings in her direction, sending a mighty gale of burning-hot wind that battered her Barrier Jacket's heat shields and sent her tumbling; Mariko and Yang distracted the monster, allowing Marie to regain control and pull up just before she would've smacked into a tree. Mariko went to slice into the Nevermore Phoenix's back end with the leading edge of one of her vector-wings, but the beast moved suddenly, and she only ended up cutting off the tips of a few of its tail-feathers. However, Yang managed to land a few firebolt hits to the giant bird's backside, followed shortly afterward by a Crossfire Shot barrage to its chest from Marie.

The firebird screeched in anger as it prepared and launched another barrage of giant fire-feathers. Mariko (with Yang underslung) and Marie dove and rolled through the air, dodging the burning projectiles as they slammed into a rock formation in the forest (thankfully not setting any trees ablaze), and then Marie returned fire with charged Light-Beam blasts and Crossfire Shots, joined by firebolts from Yang and Light-type _Sagitta Magica_ from Mariko. The constant hits were starting to take their toll on the Nevermore Phoenix, which now had a few visible signs of damage that weren't going away or being hidden by its body-flames.

"We gotta keep hittin' it!" Marie shouted. "We're wearing it down!"

The phoenix monster breathed out another stream of flame at Mariko & Yang, and the former flapped her vector-wings as she sped off to the side, beginning to circle the massive bird Heartless as Yang fired more blasts at it. Marie circled around in the other direction at a different altitude, launching more Crossfire Shot bolts and Light-Beam shots. The barrage of hits enraged the beast even more, and it released an all-directions pulse of heat and wind that forced the trio back. The trio talked telepathically, soon coming up with a plan to finish this thing off.

Mariko dove down toward a tall rock formation, dropping Yang off on top of it and then soaring upward, past the Nevermore Phoenix and higher into the sky. Yang fired a few bolts to get the bird's attention, and then pulled her fist back and started charging an extra-large shot, injecting five Dust cartridges into it rather than one. With a cry she punched upward, launching a much larger fire blast than normal; it hit the phoenix Heartless in the face, stunning and temporarily blinding it. As it flapped its wings and hovered in place, trying to regain its vision, Marie formed a large purple Rune in front of the extended barrel of her Device, which had a growing sphere of purple magical energy hovering in front of it. After several seconds' charge and a few cartridges, she fired:

"Chaos Flare!"

Regaining its sight and turning in Marie's direction, the Nevermore Phoenix squawked in surprise just as the huge purple beam of destructive magical energy impacted it, dealing significant damage. When the smoke had cleared the Heartless was still in the air, but only just, shedding feathers as it tried to stay airborne. Hearing something, it turned to look up into the red-hued sky, and saw the little pink-haired shape plummeting towards it, her vectors having taken the form of an extra-large drill around her right arm.

"Here's something Rakan-san helped me come up with!" Mariko shouted. "Take it, you overgrown buzzard! _DRILL BREAK!-!_"

Mariko thrust her spinning & vibrating vector-drill forward while magically propelling herself down, and a second later she emerged from/through the massive bird's back, having punched her way clean through its chest. As she reformed her vectors back into wings and started gliding down, the Nevermore Phoenix let out one last keening cry as it fell, disintegrating into embers and Darkness particles that were blown away with the evening wind. As Marie and Yang got together on the ground, Mariko flew in for a landing, flapping her wings a few times before they broke apart, being used to gently lower her to the ground and then retracting into her body. She was panting lightly, a big smile on her face.

"Did you see that?" she cheered. "I finished off the monster! I was awesome! I…" As she took a step, her smile faltered, as her cheeks went pink. "Um… I-I need a change…" she murmured, starting to twiddle her fingers.

Yang giggled at the sudden shift in the cute little girl's attitude. "Sure, sweetie" she said, as Marie called up a subspace pocket with the necessary supplies. "We'll take care of you."

-_Break_-

**Same Time**

The third team, a quartet, moved through the rocky area at the foot of a nearby mountain dominated by rocks and shrubs. Jaune Arc and the Hero-of-Twilight Link stuck close together, ready to draw swords & shields at a moment's notice, while Blake and Kaede K. kept their eyes open; comfortable enough with each other and their current teammates, they walked with horns and cat-ears uncovered.

They rounded a large rock formation… and reacted with shock as they came across a pack of Beowulf Grimm corpses scattered about, some ripped to shreds and others having been impaled by something.

"What could do this to a whole pack of Beowulves?" Jaune said nervously, drawing his sword and shield. "And is it still around?"

"Does anyone else hear that thudding noise?" Kaede spoke up, her vectors shimmering as they emerged from her back.

Blake and the others focused their hearing, and indeed they could hear, steadily increasing in volume, a rapid _thunk-thunk-thunk_ as something drew near. Finally, Link pointed up at a ledge a few dozen meters overhead on the side of the rocks, to what looked like a giant metallic scorpion, the sounds coming from its sharp-tipped legs punching into the rock as it crawled along the side of the 80-degree slope. The beast propelled itself off of the rocks, leaping down and landing with a ground-trembling thud in front of the group. It was massive, about five percent larger than the 'Death-Stalker' scorpion-type Grimm that Team Juniper had fought once, and its body looked to be either made wholly of bronze and gold metal, or covered completely in armor of such. An Unversed symbol was atop its head, just above/behind several glowing red eyes. It clacked its massive pincers, brandished the large spike at the end of its armored tail, and let out an angry screech.

(BOSS MUSIC: _Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword _- Koloktos / Moldarach)

**Armored Unversed Heavy – SCORPIUS KNIGHT**

"Aw, come on!" Jaune said. "Isn't _one_ giant scorpion fight enough for one lifetime?-!"

"Look at that armor" Link said. "This won't be easy…"

"Everything has a weakness" Kaede remarked. "It might take us a while to find it on this thing, but we _will_ find it."

The Scorpius Knight charged at the group, its six sturdy legs carrying it surprisingly quickly across the open ground. It swung one claw at Link while trying to grab Blake with the other, but the agile Faunus leapt out of range while the Hero of Twilight brought his shield to bear, the blow shoving him back a few meters but not breaking his guard. Kaede slashed at the monster's hide with her vectors to little effect, sparks flying as the durable Darkness-forged metal suffered only shallow cuts. The beast stabbed its tail-mounted spike at the Diclonius, only for it to be blocked by Jaune's shield; he then swung his blade at the spike's base, but it proved particularly durable, not even suffering a nick (though thankfully, neither did his sword).

Link rushed in and struck with a charged Spin Attack, knocking the Scorpius Knight back a little and leaving its face exposed, which Blake took advantage of by firing shots from her Gambol Shroud at its eyes. A bullet took out one of its lateral eyes, but then armored eyelids snapped shut over the rest, only opening up once Blake had stopped firing. The Unversed used its huge pincers to block some of Jaune's and Link's blows, and then speared its tail-spike right at Jaune's head, only for Kaede's vectors to yank the boy out of the way to safety. The Diclonius then threw a kunai with an exploding tag wrapped around it at the Scorpius Knight's face, but at that moment it lunged toward Link and Blake, and the explosion instead hit its armored flank; the armor plating now looked dented and with a scorch mark.

Link charged in, slashing at the Scorpius Knight's underside; the Master Sword was enchanted in much the same way that Keyblades were, and the Light magic concentrated in the blade enabled it to do damage to the Darkness-forged armor plating, cutting deep gashes in the metal. The monster reared back and then tried to body-slam Link, but as it fell Kaede's right fist glowed with power as she charged it with chakra while 'overlapping' both of her right-side vectors with it, and lashed out with an uppercut that caved the armor in where it hit and sent the Scorpius Knight flipping back onto its top.

After the Unversed monster righted itself, it screeched in rage and then – to the quartet's surprise – began to transform, parts shifting form and changing position, splitting or merging, emerging from or retreating into its body. When the transformation was over, the Scorpius Knight had become a tall humanoid figure, looking like a medieval knight with gold & bronze armor with the Unversed symbol on the chest. It had four arms, each with a hand tipped with claws, and its pincers sat on its shoulders, partially open to reveal what looked like gun barrels inside them. The transformed Knight formed a quartet of large swords in its hands, two glowing red eyes glaring at the enemies before it from within an angular-looking 'hornet-helmet' head.

"Great," Kaede said, "it went all Predacon on us."

The Scorpius Knight fired a few concussive blasts of plasma and Darkness from its shoulder-mounted cannons at Blake and Kaede, who leapt clear and then returned fire with Gambol Shroud shots and a vector-thrown frag grenade. The Scorpius Knight used its blades to deflect Blake's shots, but the frag grenade's blast made it stagger back a couple steps, breaking its guard. Jaune and Link took the opportunity to run in and deal a few blows, before the Unversed regained its balance and took a swing at them a second too late as they jumped back. The Knight charged at Blake and Link, using its four blades to deflect her shots and his arrows. Then, though, it was hit in the back by a _Sagitta Magica_ strike from Kaede, throwing it off-balance and distracting it while Jaune swung upwards at its lower-left wrist. He must've either hit a weak spot in the armor or unconsciously channeled Aura through his weapon, because his sword managed to slice through its target, cutting the Scorpius Knight's lower-left hand clean off. As the hand and its blade fell, Kaede caught the latter with a vector and then took aim and threw it hard, taking off the monster's damaged lower-left arm at the base.

As the monster roared and swung its three remaining blades at Kaede and Link, Blake shot at its head, forcing it to stop its attack and use its upper arms to shield its face. Jaune slashed at the joints of its legs until it tried to stomp on him, Link dodged and rolled under the wildly flailing lower-right arm and swung the Master Sword hard at its base, chopping the offending limb off. The Scorpius Knight stumbled backward, now with only two arms and two swords to work with. Furious, it fired a barrage of Darkness/plasma blasts from its pincer-cannons; Blake and Jaune dodged, Link used his enchanted shield to block the ones that came at him, and Kaede used her vectors (which, thanks to all her time training with the DDF and other more experienced members of her kind, were _far_ stronger and tougher than they used to be in addition to a 50% range/length increase) to bat them away. As the twin weapons vented built-up heat, Blake and Kaede rushed forward, slashing at the Scorpius Knight to keep its attention on them. Link ran in next, unleashing a Spin Attack on the Unversed's knees that forced it to kneel. Finally, Jaune came in, charging Aura through his legs and his sword as he used the attack that Link had, only a few hours ago, managed to teach him:

"Helm-Splitter!"

Jaune made a high leap, flipping over the kneeling Scorpius Knight and smashing its helmet as he passed over. The helmet came apart and fell away, revealing a rounded head of deep black with glowing red eyes. Blake swung up and fired several point-blank shots straight into one of its shoulder cannons, wrecking the weapon's barrel, and Kaede & Jaune combined swings at its left leg, slicing the limb off and making the armored monster topple over onto its back. Seizing the opportunity, Link leapt high and then let gravity carry him down, sword-point first, right onto the Unversed's exposed head.

The Master Sword sunk deep, punching clean through the monster's head and into the ground beneath. The Scorpius Knight shuddered and then went still, its swords dropping to the ground as they and its body began to dissipate into Darkness particles. Link pulled free his sword and sheathed it with a flourish as, just behind him, the monster's body dissolved away.

"Well…" Jaune said as he too sheathed his weapon. "That's enough excitement for one evening, wouldn't you say?"

**-**_**RANDOM DDF CODEX ENTRY**_**-**

**CODEX: DICLONIUS**

The Diclonii (scientific name _Homo sapiens diclonius_) are a human subspecies native to the Earth of Realm ELD-07. In-depth genetic analysis hints that the Diclonius race was artificially created/engineered approximately 110,000 years ago by an unknown sapient race.

There are several physiological differences between Diclonii and baseline humans. Two of the most visible are their hair color, and their horns. Diclonius hair colors vary between four different colors (though with varying shades and hues of said colors), with rarity varying by color and gender; by decreasing commonality they are: pink-haired females, pink-haired males, red-haired males, red-haired females, purple-haired females, purple-haired males, white-haired males, and the rarest (less than 3% of the population) being white-haired females. Diclonius horns are two triangular projections, bearing similarity to feline ears, growing from the temporal and parietal regions of the skull; they are composed of dense and durable bone with a hard outer shell of keratin. Though the keratin cover replenishes itself and can regenerate at roughly the rate of fingernails' growth, the underlying bone cannot regrow except in extremely rare 'mutant' cases, and even those tend to lose their horns' regenerative properties upon reaching physical maturity.

There are other differences as well. Diclonii's pineal glands are somewhat larger than those of baseline humans, for not-wholly-understood reasons. Diclonius brains process information at a slightly higher rate than baseline humans, though nothing as dramatic as seen in species like the Salarians. They possess a semi-primitive 'hive mind', which enables Diclonii to detect one another from great distances, and communicate emotions and simple thoughts to one another; in more advanced stages between Diclonii who know each other well, actual telepathic speech can be transmitted between them. Protoss scholars have explicitly compared this connection to their own '_Khala_' racial psionic gestalt. Lastly, their central nervous systems operate in a subtly different manner from that of normal humans; similarities to members of the United Nations Space Command's Project Orion subjects post-augmentation have been noted, hinting at a potential immunity to Flood nervous-system overwriting and infection.

By nature, Diclonii are also more empathic and emotional than normal humans, experiencing emotions – good and bad – with more strength than the base-human 'average'; scholars from the shinobi world have compared this to the similar (possibly identical) 'enhanced empathy' possessed by the Uchiha Clan. Diclonii are invariably romantic and sensitive souls, who form deep and powerful lifelong bonds with those who treat them with kindness and love, devoting their very lives to their loved ones and friends, being deeply devoted to and protective of their friends & family, and showering their lovers with affection. Unfortunately, their enhanced emotions also render them more vulnerable to depression or – in extreme cases – dangerous rage if mistreated. Compassion and care from loved ones can mitigate these negative outcomes, but if a Diclonius does not have such connections and is subjected to long-term abuse, the results can be catastrophic, especially regarding children of the race, whose strength of emotions and sensitivity are even higher than that of their older peers. The worst-case scenario is a Diclonius child with no-one to turn to who then chooses to attempt to repress their emotions; inevitably, their psyches fracture under the accumulated strain and the built-up stress & pain explode out, with potentially-lethal results for anyone in the immediate vicinity.

Perhaps the most famous ability of the Diclonius subspecies is to form 'vectors', telekinetic appendages of varying number & length with startling power & capability, generally awakened when a Diclonius is around eight to 12 years of age (though outliers in either direction are not impossible). These appendages can be either ghostly transparent, wholly invisible, or even glowing white depending on what the user desires. They are tipped with 'hands', complete with fingers and thumb, that enable fine manipulation to serve as extra arms, but can also change shape to certain degrees for other purposes. They can vibrate at varying frequencies to enable them to interact with different materials in different ways, and can also be shaped into cutting implements of considerable sharpness; combined with the very high degree of physical strength they possess, vectors used in such a way can easily dismember, decapitate, or even bisect organic targets, and more experienced and powerful Diclonii can even cut through dense metal and other materials with their vectors. All Diclonii have an even number of vectors; the average Diclonius has four or six vectors with a 3-5 meter range, though higher numbers with greater ranges are not unheard of.

The Diclonii are not a prolific people for a race of their technology level; on their homeworld, they number approximately 50 million – 1/140th, approximately 0.7%, of the planet's population. However, any child of a Diclonius and a baseline human will genetically be a full-blooded Diclonius, despite bearing their non-Diclonius parent's genes; the exact workings of this phenomenon are not understood, but may have been deliberately engineered into the Diclonius race by their mysterious creators 110 millennia ago.

A curious phenomenon, so far found only in a small region of their Earth's Japan, was a unique sub-type of Diclonius called 'Silpelits'. They were 'creations' of the Diclonius female Kaede Kanade, who seems to be the only member of her subspecies to possess this ability. Silpelits were born by Kanade using a specially-tuned vector to alter the pineal gland and gonads of a baseline human, making it so any children they bore would be Silpelet-class Diclonii. Silpelits are sterile, age at twice the normal rate, and awaken their vectors at a much younger average age than normal Diclonii; unfortunately, their young age meant they often could not fully control their emotions or vectors and did not yet have full understanding of the concept of death upon awakening them, resulting in numerous fatalities and horrifyingly brutal countermeasures taken against them, collectively known as the "Kamakura Incidents" after the region where they took place. Thankfully, those discovered by the Dimensional Defense Force have been given counseling and genetically altered to slow their aging rate to normal, among other things. For more information, please read "CODEX: KAMAKURA INCIDENTS" and "CODEX: OPERATION WHITE SPEAR".

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

I'm actually seriously considering altering my original plans for this Book, by cutting it short and adding the planned plot developments to a new Book 26 focused on the _PreCure_ universe (though the Ruby Group would follow/accompany the DDF to the Cure-verse to help finish things). It'll take me a while to decide, so the next update for this fic might (or might not) take a few weeks while I watch through _Suite_ & _Smile_ and make up my mind. I apologize.

…

_**SPACESHIP!-!-!**_


	4. Pursuit Again

…I have decided. This will be the last chapter of Book 25. After this, I will be starting Book 26, "Hearts, Tones, Smiles", which will have many of the plot ideas originally meant for this Book, modified to take in new characters, along with a few wholly new ideas. If you have time, try to watch through (or at least read plot & character synopses of) _HeartCatch PreCure_, _Suite PreCure_, and _Smile PreCure_, so you can understand characters and references.

On another note, I'm thinking of maybe going back and changing some characters' given heights, mainly the kids. It's a 'maybe', though.

**SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Same Day As Last Chapter – 8:30 PM**

A group of the girls (namely Teana & Subaru, Marie & Sarah, Ahsoka, Kaede K., Madoka, Homura, Madoka, & Mami, Team RWBY, and Pyrrha & Nora) had gathered to pass the time in a unique way, taking turns telling little secrets about each other. So far they'd all learned that Ruby used to have a pet rock, prim & proper 'elegant young girl' Mami was a big fan of 'guns, shouting, and explosions' action movies, Teana and Homura both got really turned on by being Bind-spelled and/or blindfolded during sex (Subaru and Madoka had confirmed this; Tia & Homu still had faint blushes from residual embarrassment even now, 10 minutes after the 'reveal'), Blake found Yang attractive (the busty blonde had given the catgirl a reassuring smile and then scooted closer to her), Ahsoka had a mild phobia of (in her words, was badly 'creeped out by') puppets (not dolls, just puppets), and Marie and Weiss still sometimes slept with stuffed toys. Now, having been given a good 'spin', the holographic cursor came to a stop pointing at Teana again.

"Okay, Tia," Sarah said with a grin, "what else ya got for us?"

Teana blushed as she began to explain something she'd come up with. Meanwhile, a little ways away, another group – Professor Ozpin, Col. Holland (via vid-screen), the two Links, Sunset, and Agent Washington & Nanoha Takamachi, the latter two also via vid-screen connection – tried to come up with the DDF's next moves.

"_So we have no idea where Abaddia might be exactly?_" Holland asked.

"She sent monsters at three different locations a significant distance from each other," Sunset replied, "but all in areas surrounding the Academy's borders. She's around here somewhere."

"_Unless someone else, like Checker or The Meta's Heartless or Ruin, sent them…_" Wash suggested.

"Don't be like that; we can't have hit a dead end already."

"Right" Twilight-Link said. "We'll either find her, or we'll find out where she's gone to."

"How's Shepard's 'pet project' going?" Sunset asked.

Nanoha smiled. "_So far, so good. It's being spread amongst the Quarians and other races that the Geth don't want a fight, and the two races have called a formal armistice for the time being; Legion, Tali, and Zaal'Koris are working to hopefully make something deeper happen._" Her smile faded. "_Though I think a vocal minority of the Quarians are only going along with it because they know the Reapers are coming, and some have made it clear they won't be happy with peace when all is said and done. …We're going to have to keep a close eye on Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen, I think._"

"_Yeah,_" Wash chimed in, "_Gerrel may be polite, but he's an anti-synthetic warmonger. And Xen is…_"

"…A mad scientist and a sociopath" Ozpin finished for him. "I've heard the reports."

"_So_," Col. Holland said, "_we've got: keeping an eye out for Amon's next move; dealing with Xehanort's group, including Malia; getting ready for the Reapers; trying to iron out old issues between races; and hunting for Jul Mdama and his extremists, who – along with Eve T'Lesh working independently – are trying to find and free a Forerunner general-turned-war-criminal. …Kinda makes me miss the days when the Covenant were the only hostile force we had to worry about._"

"_At least the Brutes seemed to have settled down, more or less_" Wash said. "_Hell, from what I hear, a few tribes are actually considering peace talks with the Arbiter – if not for formal alliances, than at least promises for both sides to leave each other alone. And the Prophets seem to have dropped off the grid; either they've gone into hiding, or _High Charity_'s fall hit their population harder than we thought. Either way, that's one less potential headache. The Flood are down for the count, too, and we've got trade set up with some of the Kig-Yar clans._"

"Let's just hope nothing big pops up before the Hybrids or the Reapers show up in force…" Sunset said. "We're going to need all the time and people we can to get everyone ready for them, and having to divert resources and soldiers to deal with other things could hurt us in the long run."

"_We'll have to wait and see…_" Nanoha mused.

Back over at the other group, Teana's face was rather red as she finished describing her 'creation', and the other girls had little blushes of varying levels as well.

"…A six-point scale for rating orgasms, based on length, intensity, and other factors…" Sarah summed up. "…You know what, Tia? I'm gonna adopt your scale. It's actually really well-thought-out."

"Same here" Ahsoka said. "I'll keep who made it a secret, if you want, but I'll run it by the rest of Negi's girls, see what they think. _I_ think it's pretty well-put-together."

"I still don't think the 'Level 6' you described can even happen…" Weiss murmured.

"Neither did I, until I was actually given one" Teana replied. "As soon as I could think coherently again – and let me tell you, it was a while – I right away changed the five-point scale into a six-point one."

"Was that the one where…" Subaru whispered into Teana's ear, inaudible to the others.

"…No, that was a 'Five'" Teana replied. "The first Six was…" she whispered the rest to the girl. Subaru's eyes widened as she grinned.

"Oh, I remember that one now! Heheh…"

"How did you even _know_ what the higher ones were like when you made the scale if you admitted you'd never had anything higher than a Three before your 'first time' with Subaru?" Nora thought aloud, curious.

"I put it together using stuff I'd heard from other, older girls in school and training who were more… experienced. They actually helped me put it together and refine it once they found out. This one girl a couple years older than me, a friend of mine there, volunteered to… _help_ me in a more 'direct' way, too, but I… I chickened out and declined her offer. She took it well, though, she understood and she wasn't upset or anything; heck, we still write and vid-chat each other. She lives on the far-east side of the capital now."

"Hmm, maybe we can 'invite' her sometime…" Subaru murmured.

"Okay!" Ruby clapped her hands to get attention, trying to fight off her blush. "Let's spin again! …Maybe a less 'racy' secret this time?"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Next Day – 10:00 AM**

Malia had been spotted.

Immediately everyone had scrambled to intercept, making a beeline for the spot near the edge of Emerald Forest where she'd been seen; by chance, it happened to be the place where Teams RWBY and JNPR had proved their worth against two giant Grimm back after they'd joined the Academy, on the far side of the (now-repaired) stone bridge. When they arrived, they found three black-cloaked figures present. The shortest of them stepped forward, pulling her hood back to reveal a young girl with long, black hair and cruel gold eyes. The gang drew their weapons as they recognized her.

"Ruin…" Teana scowled at the pure-Darkness abomination shaped like a little girl.

"My, my, fancy seeing you all here…" Ruin said. "My two 'friends' and I were just about to set out for a trio of closely-linked Realms we recently discovered; we weren't expecting anyone to show up to see us off."

The two figures flanking Ruin removed their hoods. Kaede Kanade glared at the figure on Ruin's left, her mirror image but for the black hair, gold eyes, and dark-grey horns – Karidé. On Ruin's right stood Malia, now a whole being once more; gold eyes situated over a small frown stared out at the group, particularly the _Puellae Magi_, who in turn saw that Malia's 'rebirth' had erased her Heartless' facial scarring and loss of left arm and eye. …What confused Madoka was that she could somehow (possibly due to her Keyblade) sense that this whole Malia's sadistic bloodlust was not quite as high as her initial incarnation's; perhaps becoming a Heartless had amplified it. The Darkness in her Heart was still very strong, though, and the desire to kill and destroy was still very much present, if muted and better-controlled than her Heartless' had been. And there was something else, much deeper down, that she couldn't quite place…

"I suppose you _could_ follow us if you really wanted to…" Ruin continued. "It might give me a chance to use the technique I recently learned. And maybe you'll get the chance to meet Master Xehanort's newest partner, too…"

"You think we'll just let you leave, just like that?" Ruby asked, pointing Crescent Rose at Ruin's center of mass.

Ruin snapped her fingers. A Dark Portal appeared behind her, Karidé, & Malia, and at the same time two large, white-armored figures leapt in from atop the surrounding stone pillars, landing side by side between the evil trio and the DDF group, facing the latter.

"As if you have a choice…" Ruin replied, waving goodbye as she and her fellows stepped through. "Have fun with them, Maine~."

The two halves of The Meta snarled softly; his Heartless carried a Brute Shot, while his Nobody hefted a Gravity Hammer. The dark duo charged toward the heroes' group, and a few – Yang, Young-Link, Nora, and Sunset – rushed to meet them. As the two groups closed in, however, a Dark Barrier sprang up, keeping the others from interfering.

"We could probably smash through this barrier if we all combined our full power" Subaru said. "I mean, with Fenris' power, Tia's _Susanō_ or _Kamui_, Erika & Lai-chan's Keyblades, the Master Swords… I don't think a Dark Barrier of this level could take being hit by all that at once."

"Eh, let's see how they do" Teana replied. "If they get into serious trouble, we'll bust in. But let's give 'em a chance first."

The Meta's Heartless (M-H) fired three Brute-Shot grenades, only for Yang to intercept them with three fire bursts, followed by two more aimed at him, which were deflected by a well-placed swing of The Meta's Nobody's (M-N) hammer. M-N then charged at Young-Link only to be intercepted halfway by Nora, who tried to smash him in the head with her own hammer. He ducked under the swing and lashed out with a punch that would've shattered every bone in her face, only for Sunset to land a rising kick to M-N's wrist while Nora ducked, leaving the blow to sail clear over the girl's head. Sunset then countered with a fist shrouded in (magical) fire, knocking M-N back, making his armor's shields flare and leaving a tiny scorch-mark on his chestplate.

M-H leapt in, going for a falling punch at the two girls attacking his other half. Nora and Sunset leapt away to dodge, and Yang & Young-Link charged in. M-H used the blade of his Brute Shot to block a flurry of swings of the boy's Master Sword, until one got past and slashed across the armor over his stomach, the Light-magic-enchanted sword leaving a shallow cut; M-H snarled as he lashed out with a crushing punch, which Link blocked with his shield, sending him staggering back a few meters but unhurt. Meanwhile Yang and M-N had entered a punching duel of sorts, Yang not giving M-N the chance to use his gravity hammer, while M-N narrowly dodged or slapped aside her blows that would've blasted him with fire-bursts. Yang tried to kick him in the crotch, but then winced in pain as the only thing hurt was her shin, thanks to an armored codpiece; M-N tried to use the opportunity to draw his hammer and crush her into paste, but a flying kick from Nora knocked him away while Sunset used what basic healing magic she knew to alleviate Yang's leg pain.

Focusing his magic through his ocarina, Young-Link played the Song of Double Time. M-H fired a few Brute-Shot grenades at him, but Link blurred into motion, running to the side with twice the speed of before; through manipulation of the flow of time, he had essentially 'sped up' time for himself, enabling him to – from an observer's standpoint – move and react far faster than before. He could only keep this up for a handful of seconds at a time, though. He used the time he had to blitz in and land a few slashes to M-H's sides and back, before using the last instants to charge and fire a Light Arrow at M-N's head; the Light-magic attack blew a chunk out of the human-form Nobody's visor, exposing a single eye – iris gold with Darkness corruption – surrounded by skin paled from lack of sun exposure. M-N tried to rush at Link as the boy caught his breath, only to be forced back by shots from Nora's grenade launcher.

The chainsaw-blade at one end of Sunset's staff 'growled' as she swung at M-H's arm, only for it to meet the blade of M-H's Brute Shot, the magically-enhanced construction of both weapons preventing either from giving way. M-H slowly outmuscled Sunset, and was about to overpower her completely until a Light Arrow from Young-Link to hit him from behind, knocking him off-balance and allowing Sunset to get back and then go for a swing at his neck that he ducked under. As M-H then leapt back, Sunset swung her staff in his direction while triggering the sections to separate, the chain-linked end section carrying the chainsaw-blade lashing out and slicing across M-H's chestplate, cutting into it slightly.

Yang fired a few shots at M-H, then ducked under a kick from M-N and countered with a rising point-blank shot to his torso that downed his shields and left him open to a hammer blow from Nora that sent him stumbling. M-N growled as he hefted his gravity hammer and rushed at Nora, trying to either smash her skull or chop her face off with the tungsten-carbide blade on the other side of the weapon's head, but the energetic and agile girl was able to dodge his swings. Then, however, he managed to use a hand to catch her by the throat, Nora's legs kicking in the air as he lifted her off the ground. Yang and Young-Link broke off from M-H (after Yang disoriented him with a shot to the face) and rushed in, Yang firing a burst at M-H's forearm that forced him to let go of Nora, and Y-Link landing a full-force Spin Attack that slashed deep into his armor and stunned him. M-N groaned as he tried to shake it off… and, as he brought his head back up and opened his eyes, he found himself staring down the barrel of one of Yang's wrist-blasters, pointed right at the exposed portion of his face. His lone visible eye widened just before she fired.

The burst of Fire magic and explosive energy tore through The Meta's Nobody's skull and blasted out the back of his helmet. The armored giant toppled backward, hitting the ground with a thud, unmoving. Soon, his body began to rapidly fade away into Darkness. The Meta's Heartless let out a positively inhuman roar as he charged at the group, firing Brute-Shot rounds like mad. They scattered, and he ran in and grabbed his other half's dropped gravity hammer without breaking stride. He then formed a Dark Doorway and, firing a few last parting shots to keep the quartet off him, ran through as the last of his Nobody's body faded away into nothingness. As the Dark Doorway closed, the Dark Barrier surrounding the battlefield vanished.

"I can hardly believe it…" Marie said as she walked up. "You guys actually _killed_ half of The Meta!"

"There's still his Heartless to deal with" Teana replied. "And, like Malia and Xehanort, once that one's dealt with the original Meta will come back. Still… Good job, guys. Good job."

"Now what?" Pyrrha asked.

"We need to find a way to figure out where Malia, Ruin, and Karidé went," Sunset replied, "so we can chase them down."

"We can't let her get away like this again…" Kyōko growled. "No way…"

"We won't" Teana put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "No matter what or where, we'll hunt her down. Let's report back to Ozpin and Holland, let 'em know what's happened."

"What the heck did Ruin mean by Xehanort having a new partner?" Subaru wondered.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Unknown Location (Demon Realm)**

Two figures squared off, the area showing the signs of their fairly intense battle. One stood seven-and-a-half feet tall, with brownish-green skin and red-orange hair & beard, clad in black with dull-gold lining, armored gloves and boots and a long, dark-red cape completing the ensemble, a large, ornate broadsword that wavered with Darkness power held in his right hand; the other, more demonic-looking one was slightly shorter, with half-foot-long horns curving up from his head, hands tipped with claws, a sunken face with four large fangs sticking out from his mouth, wearing black armor of raw Darkness. The taller yet more human-like of the two was barely breathing hard, while the demon looked to be barely on his feet, covered in wounds and surrounded by the pieces of his two right-hand men.

"Had enough yet?" the first said, resting his hands on the pommel of his sword.

The other snarled as he picked himself up. "This is not happening…" he growled. "This is ridiculous! I have conquered and slain thousands of beings over my millennia of existence! I have brought continent-spanning kingdoms down by my own hands alone! I will not lose to a human _germ_!"

The first chuckled. "You still know not the true nature of what you face… Your little 'kingdom' is _mine_ now, as are what precious little of your subordinates I have not yet slain. They will make fine cannon fodder. And the Hearts of those I have already killed… well, my new partner will make use of them as well."

"I am the most powerful being in 10 realms!" the demon roared. "I am the mighty Calidor!-!"

With a roar, the demon charged. Ganondorf's vile grin grew.

"You're a big fish from a small pond, 'Calidor'…" he hissed. "But now you're in the ocean, and _I'm the shark!_"

The 'King of Evil' drew his fist back, and as the demon Calidor got close enough he struck, his punch blasting through the meager magical defenses surrounding the entity and then straight through Calidor's chest. The demon gasped feebly for air, eyes wide in pain and horror.

"You foolish worm…" Ganondorf chuckled, his eyes glowing red. "You believed you would triumph over the living hatred of the Daemon Lord Demise? You thought you could stand against _Power Itself_?-! _BEGONE, INSECT!-!_"

Ganondorf laughed evilly and roared out as the Triforce of Power on his left fist glowed within Calidor's torso cavity, and a second later a large beam of destructive energy punched out the demon's back, blasting a two-foot-wide hole clean through his torso. The demon, eyes still wide with horror, went flying back, landing several meters away and going still.

"Go back to oblivion, weakling" Ganondorf remarked as he shook his hand off.

As Ganondorf turned and walked away, he did not notice as the dying Calidor was visited by another daemon that stealthily emerged from the shadows. The last thing that the demon saw was a faceless face looking down at him, as his weakened life-force and his very essence were absorbed and consumed by the new interloper.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Same Day - 1:15 PM**

**Beacon Academy Staff Room**

Everyone waited anxiously for any news on the attempt to track Malia, Ruin, and Karidé through the trans-dimensional pathways. Finally, two members of the TSAB's specialists on such matter emerged into the room, where the entirety of the present DDF group was gathered, along with Teams RWBY & JNPR and Ozpin, Glinda, Porter, & Oobleck.

"We've found them" the male specialist said. "We've been able to identify the three Realms that they escaped to."

Everyone paid close attention.

"These three Realms, all of them centered on Earths, are close together in interdimensional-coordinate terms" the female specialist said. "They may actually have dormant 'links' between them. In addition, at least two of them have active connections to other 'satellite' realms."

"What can you tell us about them?" Teana asked.

"Each of these three Realms has its own set of magically-adept defenders" the male specialist replied. "What's interesting is that all three 'teams' call their type of magical warrior the same thing, despite having no contact with each other. Also, all three Earths and their defenders recently fought off separate invasions by Darkness-aligned forces; supposedly they were led by entities called Dune, Noise, and Pierrot, respectively."

Erika's eyes widened. "F-Familiar…" she murmured. "U-Um… Sir? Do you have a-any images of these worlds defenders o-or their recent enemies?"

The man nodded, and projected from his Device a few screens, showing three teams of stereotypical-ish magical girls.

"Frilly…" Sarah remarked. "But if these measurements of their power levels are correct, they're forces to be reckoned with."

Sarah's attention was then drawn to her baby sister and her little friend. Erika and Mariko were staring at the screens, wide-eyed and jaws dropped.

"P…" Mariko started.

"P-Pre…" Erika whispered.

They looked to each other… and then pressed hands together as their eyes lit up, big excited grins forming on their faces, as they squealed in fangirlish glee:

"_PreCure!-!_"

"Holy crap, it _is_ them!" Kyōsuke said. "No way! Too cool!"

"Uh… Could we have some exposition, please?" Teana asked.

"It's a franchise on some Earths" Sayaka replied. "Picture the frills and formula and whatnot of _Sailor Moon_ and its ilk on the surface, but with deep plotlines, kickass music, and fight-scenes worthy of _Dragon-Ball Z_!"

"_Especially_ these three seasons" Kyōsuke said. "_HeartCatch_, _Suite_, and _Smile PreCure_…"

The female TSAB specialist grinned. "Let's see… According to statistics from the _Puellae Magi_'s Earth, the main demographics of _PreCure_, or _Pretty Cure_, are girls ages 6 to 12, and boys ages 16 to 35; 'fight scenes, comedy, and complex plotlines are praised', it says."

"Jack Rakan has admitted to being a fan" the male specialist added. "That should tell you something."

"If that, and these power-level readings are any indication," Teana said, now with a confident smile, "we may be getting a boatload of strong new allies soon. Nice!"

"The big bad of _HeartCatch_, Dune, wanted to change the entire Earth into a giant, lifeless desert," Kyōsuke said, "with every person's Heart lost, and the 'Heart Tree' – basically what the Keybladers would call the Heart of a World – consumed by Darkness. And in the end, Dune super-sized himself enough to start literally punching the planet. The girls beat him. _Suite_'s villain was a birdlike daemon who wanted to use a Darkness-type song-spell to petrify all living things and remove all sound from the world, and he actually succeeded in doing so to all but the main quartet of heroines. …They beat him."

"…Okay, _very_ nice! I like the sound of that!"

Erika and Mariko zipped over to the others.

"When can we go? When can we go?-!"

"I wanna meet them! Please! Let's go!"

"I haven't seen someone fangirl this hard since Marie met the Blood-Gulch crew" Sarah said with an amused grin.

Teana nodded. "Let's tell Colonel Holland we need to get underway, before 'Team Ruin' can escape again."

"Let's hope the enemy doesn't get to the locals before we do…" Sunset said.

"Aw, please…" Mariko replied. "They're the PreCure! They've beaten things on par with Tailed Beasts!"

"Still, I d-don't think they'll mind our help" Erika said, now calming herself down. "W-Who knows that Ruin or Malia might h-have up their sleeves? It m-might turn out to be more than the Cures c-can handle alone, for all we know…"

"U-Um…" Jaune spoke up. "Everyone? Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, & I halve talked it over, and… we're gonna stay here on Beacon for this one. We're just… not quite ready to get involved in something this big. Not yet. Maybe next time, y'know?"

Teana nodded. "That's fine, Arc. No sense getting yourselves seriously hurt or killed by jumping into something you're not 100% ready for. I for one think you guys _are_ ready, but if you'd rather stay and continue your training, that's fine too. …Team RWBY, what about you girls?"

"We're coming with" Yang replied, as Ruby, Blake, and Weiss nodded.

"We wanna help you guys finish this" Ruby said.

"You do remember that traversing between Realms will dramatically slow your rate of physical and mental aging, right?" the male TSAB specialist said.

"We do" Weiss replied. "And we're prepared to face that."

"Count us in" Blake chimed in. "We'll face what comes together."

Teana smiled warmly. "You four are a good team. …Alright, pack what you wanna bring and be ready to leave on a moment's notice. The pursuit of Abaddia continues!"

As the others talked, Madoka and Homura sat side by side on a small couch, the former's arm around the latter's shoulder.

"Ready for another trip, HomuHomu?" Madoka asked, giggling at the little blush this nickname earned from her girlfriend as she snuggled her; Homura may have been calm and stoic on the battlefield and among strangers, but she was very softhearted and sweet, and – as Madoka and Mami had discovered – very submissive and bashful when it came to romantic or sexual things, such that they had to be a little careful not to 'scare her off' sometimes.

"Do you… know anything about these worlds we're going to?" Homura asked.

"A little bit" Madoka replied. "I haven't watched the show, but I've read about it, seen fanart, that sort of thing. It's looked really good, though; I've been thinking about watching it. I should probably do that soon if I wanna better understand the people we'll likely be working with." After a few seconds, Madoka's smile slowly faded as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

"What's wrong, Madoka?" Homura asked, noticing her partner's expression.

"I've just been thinking about something, Homura…" Madoka replied. "When we encountered Malia's whole self, I sensed something in her Heart, something besides Darkness and rage and a want for destruction. It was deep inside, so deep I almost didn't catch it, and I think she doesn't quite notice it's there."

"What was it?"

"…Pain. It was pain. And now that I know it's there, I feel the need to know why…"

"…Guess we'll find out soon enough…"

**-**_**BOOK 25 END**_**-**

And that's it for 25. The gang has a new trio of Realms to head for, half of The Meta is gone, and there may be more than just Darkness, fury, and lust for power in Malia's blackened Heart. Now, I have recently finished watching _Suite_, and now I'm going to watch through the entirety if _Smile_ before I post the start of the next Book. So, within 2-3 weeks, keep an eye out for Book 26: _Hearts, Tones, Smiles_ in the Lyrical Nanoha / Pretty Cure x-over section.

See you all then.


End file.
